The present invention relates to a new and distinctive rice hybrid designated XL729. All publications cited in this application are herein incorporated by reference.
Rice is an ancient agricultural crop and is today one of the principal food crops of the world. There are two cultivated species of rice: Oryza sativa L., the Asian rice, and Oryza glaberrima Steud., the African rice. The Asian species constitutes virtually all of the world's cultivated rice and is the species grown in the United States. Three major rice producing regions exist in the United States: the Mississippi Delta (Arkansas, Mississippi, northeast Louisiana, southeast Missouri), the Gulf Coast (southwest Louisiana, southeast Texas), and the Central Valleys of California.
Rice production in the United States can be broadly categorized as either dry-seeded or water-seeded. In the dry-seeded system, rice is sown into a well-prepared seed bed with a grain drill or by broadcasting the seed and incorporating it with a disk or harrow. Moisture for seed germination is from irrigation or rainfall. Another method of planting by the dry-seeded system is to broadcast the seed by airplane into a flooded field, then promptly drain the water from the field. For the dry-seeded system, when the plants have reached sufficient size (four- to five-leaf stage), a shallow permanent flood of water 5 to 16 cm deep is applied to the field until the rice approaches maturity. Rice is grown on flooded soils to optimize grain yields. Heavy clay soils or silt loam soils with hard pan layers about 30 cm below the surface are typical rice-producing soils because they minimize water losses due to percolation.
In the water-seeded system, rice seed is soaked for 12 to 36 hours to initiate germination, and the seed is broadcast by airplane into a shallow-flooded field. Water may be drained from the field for a short period of time to enhance seedling establishment or the seedlings may be allowed to emerge through the shallow flood. In either case, a shallow flood is maintained until the rice approaches maturity. For both the dry-seeded and water-seeded production systems, the rice is harvested with large combines 2 to 3 weeks after draining.
Rice in the United States is classified into three primary market types by grain size and shape as: long-grain, medium grain and short-grain. Typical U.S. long-grain rice cooks dry and fluffy when steamed or boiled, whereas medium- and short-grain rice cooks moist and sticky. Long-grain cultivars have been traditionally grown in the southern states and generally receive higher market prices.
Although specific breeding objectives vary somewhat in the different regions, increasing yield is a primary objective in all programs. Grain yield of rice is determined by the number of panicles per unit area, the number of fertile florets per panicle, and grain weight per fertile floret. Increases in any or all of these yield components provide a mechanism to obtain higher yields. Heritable variation exists for all of these components, and breeders may directly or indirectly select for increases in any of them.
There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirable cultivar. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definition of problems and weaknesses of the current cultivars, followed by the establishment of program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives. The next step is selection of parental lines that possess the traits required to meet the program goals. The goal is to combine in a single cultivar an improved combination of desirable traits from the parental sources. These important traits may include higher yield, resistance to diseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to low temperatures, better agronomic characteristics, and grain quality.
The goal of rice plant breeding is to develop new, unique and superior rice cultivars and hybrids. The breeder initially selects and crosses two or more parental lines, followed by selection among the many new genetic combinations. The breeder can theoretically generate billions of new and different genetic combinations via crossing. The breeder has no direct control at the cellular level; therefore, two breeders will never develop the same line, or even very similar lines, having the same rice traits.
Choice of breeding methods to select for the improved combination of traits depends on the mode of plant reproduction, the heritability of the trait being improved, and the type of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid cultivar, pureline cultivar, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superior individual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective, whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based on mean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of related plants. Popular selection methods include pedigree selection, backcross selection, and single seed selection, or a combination of these methods.
Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement of self-pollinating crops such as rice. Two parents which possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed to produce an F1. One or both parents may themselves represent an F1 from a previous cross. Subsequently a segregating population is produced, growing the seeds resulting from selfing one or several F1s if the two parents are pure lines or by directly growing the seed resulting from the initial cross if at least one of the parents is an F1. Selection of the best individuals may begin in the first segregating population or F2; then, beginning in the F3, the best individuals in the best families are selected. Replicated testing of families can begin in the F4 generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F6 and F7), the best lines or mixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potential release as new parental lines.
Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations of either self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variable population of heterozygous individuals is either identified or created by intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selected based on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellent combining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a new population in which further cycles of selection are continued.
Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivar or inbred line which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to be transferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parent are selected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent.
The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to planting a segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When the population has been advanced from the F2 to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace to different F2 individuals. The number of plants in a population declines each generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the population will be represented by a progeny when generation advance is completed.
In a multiple-seed procedure, rice breeders commonly harvest one or more seeds from each plant in a population and thresh them together to form a bulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation and part is put in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modified single-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique.
The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. It is considerably faster to thresh panicles with a machine than to remove one seed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seed procedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of a population each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested to make up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed.
Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used for different traits and crops can be found in one of several reference books (e.g., Allard, R. W. et al. Principles of Plant Breeding (1999); Agrawal, R. L. Fundamentals of Plant Breeding and Hybrid Seed Production (1998); Schlegel, R. H. J. Encyclopedic Dictionary of plant Breeding and Related Subjects (2003); Fehr, W. R. et al. Principles of Cultivar Development—Theory and Technique (1987)).
Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation of the efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria vary depending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain from selection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard, overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successful cultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollar expended, etc.).
Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared to appropriate standards in environments representative of the commercial target area(s) for at least three or more years. The best lines are candidates for new commercial cultivars; those still deficient in a few traits may be used as parents to produce new populations for further selection.
These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing and distribution, usually take from 8 to 12 years from the time the first cross is made and may rely on the development of improved breeding lines as precursors. Therefore, development of new cultivars is a time-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficient use of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction.
A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that are genetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic value is masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors. One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performance relative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standard cultivar. If a single observation is inconclusive, replicated observations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth.
Each breeding cycle, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to the next generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and different geographical, climatic and soil conditions, and further selections are then made, throughout the growing season. The cultivars which are developed are unpredictable. This unpredictability is because the breeder's selection occurs in unique environments, with no control at the DNA level (using conventional breeding procedures), and with millions of different possible genetic combinations being generated. A breeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resulting lines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion. The same breeder cannot produce the same cultivar twice by using the exact same original parents and the same selection techniques. This unpredictability results in the expenditure of large amounts of research monies to develop superior new rice cultivars.
Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level of superiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition to showing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivar that is compatible with industry standards or which creates a new market. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additional costs to the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer; for special advertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial production practices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release of a new cultivar should take into consideration research and development costs as well as technical superiority of the final cultivar. For seed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produce seed easily and economically.
Rice, Oryza sativa L., is an important and valuable field crop. Thus, a continuing goal of rice breeders is to develop stable, high yielding rice cultivars that are agronomically sound. The reasons for this goal are to maximize the amount of grain produced on the land used and to supply food for both animals and humans. To accomplish this goal, the rice breeder must select and develop rice plants that have the traits that result in superior cultivars.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification.